Many of the satellite images we see have very different colors than the ones we are used to seeing

with
our own eyes.
Why do satellite images look so different?
Below are two pictures of the exact same location. The picture on the left is a "true color" image, this
means that the picture shows objects in the same colors that your eyes would normally see. The picture
on the right is a "false color" image, this means that the colors have been assigned to three different
wavelengths that your eyes might not normally see.

Landsat 7 images of Washington D.C., Baltimore and the Chesapeake Bay area in Maryland. A true color image using
ETM+ bands 3,2 and 1 is on the left and a false color image using ETM+ bands 4,3 and 2 is on the left.

To better understand this concept, it might be helpful to first study electromagnetic radiation. All objects
emit radiation, albeit in various amounts and at differing wavelengths. Radiation travels in a wave-like
manner and the distance between wave peaks is known as the wavelength. When organized by
wavelength and frequency, these emissions collectively form the electromagnetic spectrum.
- NASAs Landsat Program. The Landsat 7 Compositor
http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/education/compositor


You probably know that you should wear sunscreen at the beach because of dangerous ultraviolet rays,
but do you know what ultraviolet rays are? Can you see them? Maybe you've also heard about infrared
sensors used for detecting heat. But what is infrared?
Ultraviolet rays and infrared are types of radiant energy which are outside of the human range of vision.
The diagram below shows the entire electromagnetic spectrum from high frequency, short-wavelength
gamma rays to low frequency, long-wavelength radio waves. Humans can only see a very small part of
the electromagnetic spectrum, the visible spectrum (think of a rainbow).

Image taken from World of Beams

Many insects are able to detect wavelengths that humans are not able to see. Bees, for example, can
detect three colors: ultraviolet, blue, and yellow, but not red. The ability to see red is actually rare for all
insects. The butterfly is an exception to this rule. Butterflies are believed to have the widest visual range
of any animal. Various species of butterfly can detect wavelengths anywhere from 310 nm to 700 nm. To
humans, male and female butterflies may look the same, but butterflies are able to identify each other
easily because of ultraviolet markings on their wings. Butterflies and insects are also attracted to
ultraviolet nectar of certain flowers. The photos below other simulate how humans, bees, and butterflies
see the same flower.
- NASAs Landsat Program. The Landsat 7 Compositor
http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/education/compositor

Himalyan balsam (policeman's helmet)- Impatiens glandulifera

Human Vision
Bee Vision Simulation
Images taken from The World as Seen by Butterflies

Butterfly Vision Simulation

Think:
What light can a human detect, but not a bee? Bees cannot detect red light, humans can.
What light can a bee detect, but not a human? Humans cannot detect ultraviolet light, bees can.
Is there any light the human or bee can detect, but not the butterfly? How can you tell? Butterflies can
detect light visible to both humans and bees. You can tell this because the butterfly sees both the red
that the human sees and the ultraviolet (shown in blue) that the bee sees.
The ability to detect light beyond the visible spectrum is not only helpful to insects. Humans can benefit
from seeing non-visible wavelengths as well. How is this if we can only see visible light?



- NASAs Landsat Program. The Landsat 7 Compositor
http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/education/compositor/


Humans cannot see light past the visible spectrum, but satellites are able to detect wavelengths into the
ultraviolet and infrared. Satellites, like Landsat 7, fly high above the earth, using instruments to collect
data at specific wavelengths. These data can then be used to build an image. Satellite instruments are
able to obtain many images of the same location, at the same time. Each image highlights a different
part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
The Landsat 7 satellite uses an instrument that collects seven images at once. Each image shows a
specific section of the electromagnetic spectrum, called a band. Landsat 7 has seven different bands.
The table below shows the seven bands of Landsat 7.

Spectral sensitivity of Landsat 7 Bands.

Band
Number
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Wavelength
Interval
0.45-0.52 m
0.52-0.60 m
0.63-0.69 m
0.76-0.90 m
1.55-1.75 m
10.40-12.50 m
2.08-2.35 m

Spectral
Response
Blue-Green
Green
Red
Near IR
Mid-IR
Thermal IR
Mid-IR

- NASAs Landsat Program. The Landsat 7 Compositor

http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/education/compositor/

- NASAs Landsat Program. The Landsat 7 Compositor

http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/education/compositor/

All of the images on the previous page were obtained by Landsat 7 at the same time, and at the exact
same location. If you look closely at the images, you will see that they do not all look the same. Light
and dark spots in the images appear in different places. This is because different objects on earth
(plants, soil, water, etc.) reflect different wavelengths of light. The bright spots on the images show
where a lot of light is being reflected.

The image above is a "true color" image of the desert around the Salton Sea and Imperial Valley in Southern
California. The American/Mexican border is clearly visible.
- NASAs Landsat Program. The Landsat 7 Compositor
http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/education/compositor/



In this Band 4 image, the light areas indicate strong reflection of wavelengths between 0.76 and 0.90
m; the darker areas do not strongly reflect in those wavelengths. What do you think the light areas are?
The light areas are vegetation. In band 4 (NIR), vegetation is highly reflective. The human eye cannot
perceive NIR light.

- NASAs Landsat Program. The Landsat 7 Compositor

http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/education/compositor/

Landsat 7
Band Number

Applications

coastal water mapping, soil/vegetation discrimination, forest

classification,
man-made feature identification

vegetation discrimination and health monitoring, man-made feature

identification

plant species identification, man-made feature identification

soil moisture monitoring, vegetation monitoring, water body

discrimination

vegetation moisture content monitoring

surface temperature, vegetation stress monitoring, soil moisture

monitoring,
cloud differentiation, volcanic monitoring

mineral and rock discrimination, vegetation moisture content

For more details see: Lillesand, T. and Kiefer, R., 1994. Remote Sensing and Image
Interpretation. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, p. 468.













- NASAs Landsat Program. The Landsat 7 Compositor
http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/education/compositor/


Satellites acquire images in black and white, so how is it possible to create the beautiful color images
that we see on television, in magazines, and on the internet? Computers provide us with the answer.
Remember that images created using different bands (or wavelengths) have different contrast (light and
dark areas). Computers make it possible to assign "false color" to these black and white images. The
three primary colors of light are red, green, and blue. Computer screens can display an image in three
different bands at a time, by using a different primary color for each band. When we combine these
three images we get a "false color image".

To really understand a false color image, we must know which band was assigned to
each of the three colors.
- NASAs Landsat Program. The Landsat 7 Compositor
http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/education/compositor/

Think:
Why can a false color image only display three bands at a time? There are only three primary colors of
light: red, green, and blue. All other colors that we see are a combination of these three colors.
Why do we call colored satellite images "false color images"? The colors in the images are not the
ones that we would normally see with our eyes. They are assigned colors.
Why is it important to know which band was assigned to each color in "false color" images? Without
knowledge of how each band has been assigned, we cannot be sure why the colors appear as
they do, or what each color identifies.

- NASAs Landsat Program. The Landsat 7 Compositor

http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/education/compositor/

RGB = NRG
Landsat 7 images are color composites, made by assigning the three primary colors to three bands of
the Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+) sensor. These images are not color photographs, they are
"false color" images (green fields won't necessarily look green in the image).
One common way that primary colors are assigned to bands can be easily remembered using the
mnemonic RGB = NRG (Red, Green, Blue = Near Infrared, Red, Green, or "energy")
Red = Near IR (ETM+ band 4)
Green = Red (ETM+ band 3)
Blue = Green (ETM+ band 2)

This image uses Landsat ETM+ Bands 4,3,2. The image depicts an area just north of Tokyo, Japan.
- NASAs Landsat Program. The Landsat 7 Compositor
http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/education/compositor/

This common band combination makes vegetation appear as shades of red, because vegetation reflects
a lot of near infrared light. The brighter the red, the healthier the vegetation. Soils with little or no
vegetation will range from white (for sand) to greens and browns, depending on moisture and organic
matter content. Water will range from blue to black. Clear, deep water is dark, and sediment-laden or
shallow water appears lighter. Urban areas look blue-gray. Clouds and snow are both white.
This assignment of colors is only one of many possible combinations. Any combination of bands can be
represented by red, green, and blue. In the following activity you will have the opportunity to manipulate
the seven bands of Landsat 7.

- NASAs Landsat Program. The Landsat 7 Compositor

http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/education/compositor/


False color satellite images can provide extremely valuable information about the world we live in. Just
as butterflies benefit from their ability to detect invisible wavelengths, humans can benefit from the
technology of satellite imaging.
Agriculture,
Forestry and
Range
Resources

Land Use and

Mapping

Geology

Hydrology

Determining
water
boundaries and
surface water
areas
Mapping floods
and flood plain
characteristics
Determining
area extent of
snow and ice
coverage

Discriminating
vegetative,
crop and
timber types

Classifying land
uses

Mapping major
geologic
features

Measuring
crop and
timber acreage

Cartographic
mapping and
map updating

Revising
geologic maps

Precision
farming land
management

Categorizing
land capabilities

Recognizing
and classifying
certain rock
types

Monitoring
urban growth

Delineating
unconsolidated
rocks and soils

Aiding regional
planning

Measuring
Mapping
turbidity and
volcanic surface
sediment
deposits
patterns

Monitoring
crop and forest
harvests
Determining
range
readiness,
biomass and
health

Measuring
changes and
extent of
glacial features

Coastal
Resources

Environmental
Monitoring

Determining
patterns and
extent of
turbidity

Monitoring
deforestation

Mapping
shoreline
changes
Mapping
shoals, reefs
and shallow
areas
Mapping and
monitoring
sea ice in
shipping
lanes
Tracking
beach
erosion and
flooding

Monitoring
volcanic flow
activity
Mapping and
monitoring
water pollution
Determining
effects of
natural
disasters

Assessing
drought impact

Agriculture,
Forestry and
Range
Resources

Determining
soil conditions
and
associations

Monitoring
desert blooms

Assessing
wildlife habitat

Characterizing
forest range
vegetation
Monitoring and
mapping insect
infestations
Monitoring
irrigation
practices

Land Use and

Mapping

Geology

Hydrology

Coastal
Resources

Environmental
Monitoring

Mapping
transportation
networks

Mapping
geologic
landforms

Delineating
irrigated fields

Monitoring
coral reef
health

Tracking oil
spills

Mapping landwater
boundaries

Identifying
indicators of
mineral and
petroleum
resources

Monitoring lake
inventories and
health

Determining
coastal
circulation
patterns

Assessing and
monitoring
grass and forest
fires

Determining
regional
geologic
structures

Estimating
snow melt
runoff

Measuring
sea surface
temperature

Mapping and
monitoring lake
eutrophication

Producing
geomorphic
maps

Characterizing
tropical rainfall

Monitoring
and tracking
'red' tides

Monitoring mine
waste pollution

Mapping impact
craters

Mapping
watersheds

Coral reef
health
assessment

Monitoring
volcanic ash
plumes

Chevron
discovery

Mapping
closed-basin
ponds

Global coral
reef mapping

Assessing
carbon stocks

Monitoring
wetlands
Water
management

Citing
transportation
and power
transmission
routes
Planning solid
waste disposal
sites, power
plants and other
industries
Mapping and
managing flood
plains
Tracking
socioeconomic
impacts on land
use

Bison
management

Online mapping

Mega-lake
discovery

Crop
production
estimates

Cartographic
discoveries

Soil carbon flux

Chesapeake
Bay
restoration
Monitoring
coastal
erosion

Cancer
research
Atmospheric
modeling

Agriculture,
Forestry and
Range
Resources

Land Use and

Mapping

Geology

Hydrology

Coastal
Resources

Environmental
Monitoring

Coastal
Studies

Mapping Rift
Valley Fever
risk areas

Quantifying
burn severity

Mapping
Antarctica

Wetland
restoration

Fighting crop
insurance
fraud

Fighting hunger

Chesapeake
Monitoring dam
Bay
construction
management

Forest trends
in Madagascar

Urban sprawl
and climate
change

Groundwater
discharge

Caribbean
Island mapping

Bushfire impact
on water yields

Forest
protection in
Peru
Better Estimate
of Boreal
Forest Loss
Crop water
stress
Crop water
demand
Rice
production
monitoring
Demise of
Papua New
Guinea forests
Monitoring
conservation
tillage
North
American
forest
disturbance

Tropical forest
clearing for
development
Exploring
ancient Mexico
Landsat Image
Mosaic of
Antarctica
Kansas Map

Assessing
clear-cutting
impacts
Assessing
impacts of
industrial
logging
Mapping urban
heat islands
Landsat,
Potholes, and
Climate Change
Disaster
aftermath
African
environmental
change
Cyclone Nargis'
impact on
Burma
Fire prevention
in Spain
Surveying
mangroves

Greek fires